1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of in-vehicle controls. In particular, to a system and method for mitigating the unintended operation of in-vehicle controls.
2. Related Art
Many types of vehicles have vehicle-operator interfaces that include one or more controls to be operated by the operator or occupants of the vehicle. The controls may, for example, take the form of buttons, levers, knobs, touch-sensitive surfaces and other similar control types.
Due, at least in part, to the dynamic nature of vehicle motion and the focus demanded by operation of the vehicle, in some circumstances controls may be unintentionally actuated or operated by the driver or occupants of the vehicle. In an illustrative example for an automobile equipped with steering wheel mounted controls, a driver may unintentionally operate a steering wheel mounted control (e.g. hands-free call termination, audio volume up or down, cruise control set) as a result of hand-over-hand movement when making a tight turn. The unintended operation of the controls may result in driver frustration, driver distraction or unsafe vehicle operation.
It is desirable to mitigate unintended operation of in-vehicle controls that may result in operator frustration, operator distraction or unsafe vehicle operation.